RUINS ( FINNICK ODAIR ) ✓

ix. ━━ a saving grace

· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
▎ RUINS   ▎
»»————-　act one. uneven odds
NINE ━━ a saving grace

fall seven times, stand up eight

— japanese proverb

BIRDS CHIRPED AS THE FOUR TRIBUTES CONTINUED TO walk through the forest, this time much more carefully. Katniss was in front of the group, a couple of stones in her hand to throw at the force field so that no one would be electrocuded again.

"Hang on." Katniss stopped walking and she threw her bow around her upper half. She started climbing a nearby tree.

Erin took this as a chance to rest, she ungracefully sat on the ground, her katana was dropped beside her.

"Are you alright?" Finnick asked, crouching down in front of her.

Erin hummed in response, but she didn't look up at him and kept her gaze focused on her feet, hoping the dizziness would go away.

Finnick lifted her head with his hands and her soft brown eyes connected with concerned sea-green ones. "You're bleeding." He stated.

Erin flinched as Finnick placed a hand on her supposed wound. "It's bleeding pretty badly."

"It's fine." She pushed his hands away and tried to stand up. Finnick followed quickly after her and a wave of dizznes came over her, and she placed her hands on Finnick's shoulders to regain her balance.

"Yeah, you're totally fine." Finnick said sarcastically, helping her sit down again before he ripped a piece of the sleeve of his wetsuit.

Erin gave him a blank stare as he wrapped it around her wound. "I think a hit a rock when I fell down." She said.

"The force field, it's a dome. We're at the edge of the arena. I couldn't find any signs of fresh water." Katniss informed them when she dropped from the tree.

"It's gonna get dark soon." Finnick announced. "We'll be safe with our backs protected. We should set up camp, take turns sleeping. I can take first watch."

"Not a chance." Katniss cut in and Erin glanced up at her. She would have thought that Katniss would trust them by now. Finnick had saved her and Peeta without a single thought.

Finnick looked offended and stood up from his place besides Erin, digging his trident in the ground. "Honey." He began in a low voice. "That thing I did back there for Peeta, that was called saving his life. If I wanted to kill either one of you I would've done it by now." He held her gaze for a moment before walking away from them, sitting down on the ground with the same blank expression face from when Katniss and him had clashed earlier.

"Go get some sleep, I'll take the first watch." Katniss stated.

Erin nodded slowly before turning to walk towards Finnick. "You know you can trust us right" she promised, but she didn't give Katniss a chance to answer her question.

She approached Finnick and sat down beside him, their shoulders touching. She placed a soft hand on his knee and gave him a small smile. "We'll get through this, together. She stated.

Finnick nodded and gave her a small
smile. "Together." He mumbled.

Finnick smiled fondly at Erin's resting face as he pushed some hair away.

"Have you known her for a long time?"

Finnick turned around and his gaze locked with Katniss'. "Since we were kids." He replied softly.

"That's a long time." She frowns.

Finnick hummed in response but didn't go further in on the subject. "How's Peeta?" He asked.

"He's okay, I think. Just.." She paused, licked her lips. "Dehydrated like the rest if us."

Finnick nodded in understanding just as the sky lit up and pixels filled the arena while the Capitol Anthem sounded through the air.

Faces filled the dark night sky from fallen tributes one by one, canons blasted off elsewhere in the arena.

Erin rolled on her side, blinking to adjust to darkness. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the sky.

"How many?" She asked, sitting up while Peeta stirred awake, rubbing his eyes.

"I counted eight." Katniss said with an edge of sadness laced in her voice.

They all sat in silence, Erin getting in sitting position beside Finnick who was leaning agains the trunk of a tree. Her eyes darted around the area when she heard a faint beeping sound.

Erin watched as Katniss stood up and aproached the meta parcel carefully. They all watched as Katniss opened it, in her hand was some kind of metal cylinder.

"What do you think it is?" Peeta asked her.

"It's from Haymitch. I think it's a spile." Katniss awnsered.

"A what?" Finnick asked.

Katniss didn't reply and crawled over to a tree and hammered the spile into it with the blunt of her machete, eagerly sitting in front of it, waiting for something to happen. And just like that, an stream of fresh water poured out from the opening of the spile, a gasped escaped Katniss mouth before she dipped her head and took a large gulp of water.

"No way." Erin muttered in disbelieve.

"Are you kidding me. You're kidding me!" Finnick exclaimed as Peeta also took a large gulp from the steady stream of water.

Erin shuffled over towards the others, and after Finnick she drank the refreshing water. She smiled when the cool water slid down her throat, the feeling of relief was immensely for her dry throat.

Finally they had some luck.

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